S&P upgrades Surprise bond rating

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services announced today that it has raised the City of Surprise General Obligation (GO) Bonds rating from “A” to “AA-” while affirming the stable outlook.

In releasing the information, S&P stated the rating reflects the following positive attributes of Surprise:

Adequate economy, which is part of a broad and diverse economy;

Strong management conditions, with good financial policies;

Adequate budgetary performance;

Very strong budgetary flexibility;

Very strong liquidity, providing very strong cash levels to cover both debt service and expenditures; and

Very strong and contingent liabilities position.

“This is very welcome news which solidifies that the fiscal policies set by this City Council and carried out by our management team have indeed put our fiscal house in order,” said Mayor Sharon Wolcott. “Hard work, dedication and sacrifice have set the stage for our city to begin moving forward again.”

“Credit ratings are extremely important to a community as they determine interest rates in the bond market,” said City Manager Bob Wingenroth. For example, if a city goes to sell bonds to finance capital improvement projects the higher the bond rating the lower the interest payments to bond purchasers, lowering the overall cost of borrowing.”

Today’s announcement follows an upgrade by Fitch Ratings in February of this year. Citing “sound internal controls” and “solid fundamentals,” Fitch upgraded City of Surprise General Obligation (GO) Bonds and series 2003 Municipal Property Corporation (MPC) bonds from ‘A+” to ‘AA-‘.

Event date: February 22, 2018 Event Time: 06:00 PM - 08:00 PMLocation: 13165 N. Autoshow AvenueSurprise, AZ 85388Description:Join Councilmember Patrick Duffy to discuss the issues that are important to you and learn more about what’s happening across the city.

Event date: February 28, 2018 Event Time: 06:00 PM - 07:00 PMLocation: 16418 N Bullard Avenue Surprise, AZ 85374Description:This is a request for a Conditional Use Permit (case FS17-731) to allow for a new Major Vehicle Repair facility in approximately 2.9 acres generally located north of Bell Road and east of Dysart Road.